Silence on the Bridge
by Janeway74656
Summary: Captain Janeway and her Voyager crew are traveling through the Delta Quadrant when a strange man with a blue box, and bowtie, pays a visit; and brings one of his most mysterious enemies along with him...
1. Silence on the Bridge

Year 2376:

Captain Kathryn Janeway could feel the familiar hum of her ship under her seat on the bridge. The _USS Voyager_ was gliding through the unknown region of space called the Delta Quadrant at a steady Warp 6, a fairly high speed although it wouldn't be enough to get Janeway and her crew home anytime soon. They'd been trying to reach home for five years, but still had some ways to go - a mere sixty-five years - although Janeway was certain her crew would make it back to the Federation much sooner.

To Janeway's left sat her first officer, Commander Chakotay, tapping on a flat handheld device called a PADD containing reports of engineering's status. Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres usually had nothing to report since her irritant alien Klingon half "coaxed" her staff into keeping the warp core and all other systems in check. Behind Janeway was the perfect-figured Seven of Nine, a newer member of her crew who constantly searched for her lost connection to humanity. To the captain's left was young Ensign Harry Kim in his little alcove at ops station, trying to impress the captain by keeping an update of the ship's status and constantly scanning the vacuum of space around them for anything that might interest the crew. To her right was the Vulcan, tactical and security officer, and her old friend, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. Even on a slow day like this one, he was still checking weapons and security status; a very logical precaution. Tom Paris, the pilot, sat in front of the Captain and first officer, effortlessly guiding the ship throughout the journey.

Janeway was cradling her mug of black coffee, starting to believe that today was going to be a rare uneventful day, when the ship took a sharp jolt and threw her out of her chair. She landed in a heap with her first officer, coffee spilled all over her dark red uniform.

"Report!" barked the Captain as she untangled herself from Chakotay and back into her seat. The rest of the bridge staff scrambled to their stations to discover what caused the most advanced ship in Starfleet to move out of control.

"Something has disrupted the warp field," replied Harry. "We've dropped out of warp!"

Janeway began to give out orders to regain warp speed, but was interrupted by a pulsing grinding sound overwhelming the bridge. A bright light emerged, matching the pulsing sound. Janeway found the source of the light to her left as a transparent image became clearer with each pulse of light. After one final pulse the full object appeared in complete solidity. It was a large box that resembled a telephone box in Ancient London, but on the top was written "Police Box" on each side. The whole box was painted a royal blue, and a small lantern was perched at the top, still flashing slowly.

The side closest to the Captain had a door with windows, and as she approached the mysterious box the door opened to reveal a strange man. He had a long nose, brown eyes, and a short black haircut. He wore trousers, a bright purple shirt, a tan-colored jacket, and a red bow tie. As he stepped out of the box and a young couple followed him. One was a short blonde man and the other was a ginger-haired woman. All three of them seemed surprised to be there, but not surprised about _how _they got there.

"Oh, hello!" exclaimed the man with the bow tie. He had a heavy British accent. "Sorry. We were just looking for the moons of Taurus III. I must have made a slight error in plotting my flight-"

"As you usually do," interrupted the woman. Her accent was very Scottish.

Janeway had no time for excuses. As usual, she wanted answers as soon as possible. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the _USS Voyager_. Who are you, and how did you bring this... box on my ship?"

"I'm the Doctor, the woman is Amy Pond, and the blonde man is her husband, Rory Williams." said the man.

"Doctor? Doctor Who?"

"Well, if you prefer the latter that's fine with me."

There was a moment of utter confusion, and Amy spoke up with a tone that showed she had told this story many times.

"He's a nameless one thousand-year-old time traveler, and that blue box is his TARDIS."

"TARDIS?"

"It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. A time machine," answered Rory. After Janeway's disbelieving glance at the small, blue box and a stare at Rory, he added, "Oh, it's bigger on the inside."

She was about to ask several more questions, but instantly noticed her new passengers staring at her in fearful wonder. "What's wrong?"

"What did you just say a moment ago?" asked the Doctor.

"I just asked you about your... TARDIS."

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory all shared a nervous glance. "You just asked about the fourth member of our group." said Rory.

"I didn't say that. Clearly there isn't another person," said a slightly concerned Janeway.

The Doctor rolled up his sleeve and checked his right arm, and grew wide-eyed. "That's because you can't remember seeing our fourth member," he stared at his companions in horror. "The Silence are on board."

"The Silence? What are the Silence? Will you please explain what is going on here?" The Captain had to remain calm under the watchful eyes of her crew, but Janeway felt she was speaking just below a tone of panic.

"The Silence are probably one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy simply because you will never know they are there. As soon as you look away you forget everything you knew about them."

"If it is impossible to remember them, how do you know the Silence are here on _Voyager_?" asked the emotionless Tuvok.

"Oh! A Vulcan!" exclaimed the ever-curious Doctor. "I've always wanted to meet a member of your race. So amazing how you can operate without using any human emotion."

"Doctor," interrupted and annoyed Amy. "I know he's fascinating, but please don't get sidetracked now." She seemed to talk to him like he was a child.

"Right." He seemed somewhat disappointed that he couldn't examine his new find further, but pressed on to the bigger problem. "I know the Silence are here because your captain saw one."

This shocked Janeway, which was impressive after spending five years in what felt like hell. "Me!"

"Yes. You looked off to my left and asked about a fourth intruder. But you don't remember asking that question, nor can you see a fourth intruder. I'm afraid I've seen several more on your bridge alone."

Chakotay, Janeway's most loyal crewman and friend, instinctively moved toward his captain to protect her from whatever might come out of this. "And how do you know that? I'm sure you're not immune to this alien's ability."

The Doctor held out his left arm. The sleeve was still rolled up and on his bare skin were four black tallies. "Somewhere along my travels I became aware of the Silence and decided to have a black marker ready so I may mark my arm every time I look at one. I may not remember what happened - I may be having full conversations with you all that I don't know about right now -, but at least I know what I'm up against."

"So how many are here right now?"

"Four," the Doctor checked his arm and went pale. "Uh...Seven." Three new tallies appeared on his arm since he last looked.

"Captain," said Harry Kim. "Sensors picked up the signal of a ship several hundred kilometers away, but it was only for a split second. Hang on, the computer has no record of the ship we just found."

"Did the ship move away?" asked Janeway.

"I don't think so. I'm picking up several more ships with the same signal over five lightyears." Kim pounded his console in frustration. "I just lost all records of it. It's as if the computer's losing its memory as soon as it finds new data."

"That's because it is," realization finally hit the Doctor. "Those must be Silence ships. Powerful enough to wipe the memory of a ship's computer, at least I assume that's the case. I've never seen one, only the Silence themselves on Earth. Yes, they have influenced the progress of men for thousands of years, but I never knew where they came from. But I think I finally found their home."

Silence fell over the bridge. The Doctor didn't have to explain himself. No one wanted to say it out loud. They knew who was watching their realization dawn. There was only one clear reason for several "ghost ships" to be spanned over such a great distance.

They were in the realm of the Silence.

_"Torres to Janeway!" _ B'Elanna's voice broke the silence through the comm system. _"The warp core just disappeared!"_

"What do you mean it just disappeared?" Janeway wasn't used to a less than thorough explanation from her chief engineer.

_"I mean it just vanished! One moment it was there, and the next - it was gone!"_

It was Janeway's turn to go pale. The warp core was _Voyager's_ only engine capable of getting her crew out of dangerous situations like these.

And now it was missing.

"The Silence must have taken it," interrupted the Doctor. "They now know you are aware of them and they are trying to put a stop to it."

_You mean us,_ thought Janeway. This new thought didn't really scare her, though. She faced death every day in the Delta Quadrant. It was the thought that beings she never could remember might be plaguing her ship right now that made her shudder. They may have been there for a long time.

"Harry, scan the surrounding space for the warp core," ordered Chakotay.

Harry tapped on his console like a composer hard at work while the bridge crew watched, patiently waiting for his answer. When he finished, he looked up. "The warp core seemed to be just sitting in space until sensors picked up a blip of a ship surrounding it. The core must be in there."

"Can we retrieve it from here?" asked Janeway, hopeful.

"No, ma'am. Our transporters are down and we can't access our shuttles. Tractor beam won't work either."

Janeway was not willing to accept defeat. The warp core was their only way to get back home, and she and her crew had worked too hard for too long to let a few thousand kilometers get in the way of her and her only chance of reaching Earth again. "There has to be another way to get it back," she said softly.

"Uh, actually, Captain," said a somewhat prideful Rory, "there is."

Understanding Rory, the Doctor perked up with new energy. "Oh, that's right! I have my TARDIS, the sexy thing. Captain, you stay put and Amy and Rory Pond -"

"No, it's Rory Williams. Amy married me," corrected Rory.

"Nah, it's Pond. You know Amy's really in control of your marriage," winked the Doctor. "Now, Amy and Rory will accompany me in the TARDIS, retrieve your warp core, and we'll all be on our merry way."

"Oh no you don't!" Janeway stopped the Doctor. There was no way someone was going to just arrive on her ship and give her orders. "If you're going on that ship, then I'm coming, too."

"I can't allow that, Captain," the Doctor responded, suddenly serious. "You have no idea what you're up against. You don't know how to work the TARDIS and you don't know how ruthless the Silence are."

"I don't care, Doctor!" An adventurous twitch itched inside the Captain. She stepped forward toward the Doctor, and almost had to crane her neck to lock her gaze with him. "The Silence have _my _warp core and nothing will stop me from getting it back. Not even you or the Silence." _I also want to see that time machine of yours,_ she thought. What could be hidden inside that tiny blue box that can travel through time and space?

The Doctor grinned in amusement. "You know, I've always wanted to be a ginger. There are many people, women at least, that I've seen with ginger-colored hair who have a natural determination that cannot be swayed by any amount of force. You are one of those gingers."

"So I can come," It was not a question, and Janeway was still staring at the Doctor with her icy blue eyes.

"I don't see any way of talking you out of it."

With his answer confirmed, Janeway tapped her comm badge on the left side of her chest. "Janeway to the Doctor. Please report to the bridge."

_"On my way, Captain,"_ the badge responded.

A few minutes later the ship's doctor, a middle-aged, balding man, emerged on the bridge. He paused for a moment to take in the view, and strode toward the captain.

"Doctor, we need your help," said Janeway.

"Hang on," interrupted the time traveling Doctor. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

Janeway stepped in. "He's our medical doctor; an Emergency Medical Hologram. He hasn't chosen a name yet, so we call him Doctor."

"Well, what creator chose your rubbish hairstyle?" asked the time traveler.

"Who picked out your wardrobe this morning?" countered the EMH. He was notorious for having a poor bedside manner. "I guess no one told you that bow tie is hideous."

"No it's not!" The Doctor tugged on his tie. "Bow ties are cool."

"Doctor!" called Janeway.

"Yes?" answered both.

"Uh, no. My Doctor." The EMH stepped toward the captain. "Do you notice anyone else in this room beside the crew and these three?"

The Doctor looked a little puzzled. "Captain, I told you several times that there are strange aliens all over the ship."

The hair rose on the back of her head. "You have?"

"Yes. They removed the warp core from the ship."

_Well at least I remember that part,_ thought Janeway, her composure settling over the situation. "So you can see them?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Wonderful, you're coming with me, Chakotay, Tuvok, and Seven."

"Where?"

"Into the belly of the beast," replied the Doctor. He snapped his fingers and the door to his TARDIS swung in on itself. The inside of the time machine bathed the bridge in a warm glow. "If you will please step inside, we have a ship to save."

Aside from saving her crew, adventure was Janeway's greatest instinct. Only several years of command prevented her from dashing inside and taking everything in like a child. As soon as her away team gathered around her and Tuvok handed out phasers, handheld laser weapons, Janeway ventured forth inside the TARDIS.

_He was right. It is bigger on the inside!_ But his description was grossly underestimated. What would have been the length of the tiny box was a platform that lead to the true size of the time machine. Past the platform and up a metal staircase was a glass landing circling around a tall round control center strewn with buzzing knick-knacks. On the opposite side of the controls was a taller metal staircase leading to another part of the ship. The rounded walls were spotted with metal plates and screens, and the whole TARDIS had a gold hue.

The rest of the away team entered after Janeway and gaped at the massive inside of the time machine. Tuvok and Seven, the most "logical" members of her crew, seemed to be having a mental overload. She knew they were having a difficult time finding an explanation as to how such a small box could be so much bigger on the inside. The two would probably be having a long conversation with the time traveler, but for now they simply looked around, Tuvok muttering "Fascinating" and Seven saying "Intriguing."

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory passed the group that were now the intruders and sprinted up the stairs to the controls. The Doctor was pushing and twisting gadgets while the Voyager crew remained at the platform immovable. "Well come on in. There's plenty of room."

Janeway grinned in excitement as she climbed the stairs, followed by the rest of her team. She circled around the landing, noting every "button" the Doctor pressed; a ketchup dispenser, an old typewriter, levers that had a zigzag motion or pulled out or pulled down. All seemed to be useless junk, yet apparently made the TARDIS work perfectly.

After a few more flourishes, the Doctor called, "Alright, the old girl is having trouble finding the ship we need to get to, but all I have to do is look out of one of the windows and we know where we're going." After several concerned faces popped up, he added, "Trust me. I'm a Doctor." And with that, he pulled down a final lever. The TARDIS began to jolt and shudder. More gadgets were spinning, and the transparent center of the controls glowed green as the clear tubes inside rose and fell to the pulsating sound of the time machine leaving the _Voyager _bridge and penetrating the Silence ship.

After the away team regained their bearings, the Doctor and his companions made their way toward the door. Janeway and her crew followed, and the Doctor pulled out a long metal tool with a green light at the end. "What is that?" asked Janeway.

"A sonic screwdriver," said the Doctor. "Fixes anything. Except for wood. Never figured out why."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" asked Rory.

"I'm not really sure," answered the time lord. "I'm making this up as I go along."

"Captain?" called _Voyager's _medical doctor, but Janeway did not respond.

"I'm guessing we just charge in with our weapons ready," said the Doctor. "When we find the warp core, I'll use my sonic to transport it into the TARDIS."

"Captain?"

"Then when we get back to _Voyager_," added Janeway, "the transporters will probably be back on and we can beam the core out of the TARDIS and into it's proper place in engineering."

"Captain?!"

"Yes, I haven't forgotten about you, Doctor," she assured her EMH. "You will keep an eye out for any Silence in our path so we can reach the core without having to entirely forget what we are facing."

"But, Captain, I'm afraid you've forgotten much more than you realize."

"What do you mean? What else could I have forgotten?"

"The whole mission!" exclaimed the Doctor. Everyone stared at him. "We've already completed it."

"What?"

"We made it through the Silence ship and, after a difficult struggle, we retrieved the warp core. It's right over there." He pointed toward the far side of the TARDIS. The entire group turned toward the direction of his finger, and stared in awe at the tall, cylindrical object. The glowing blue matter slowly swirled inside its case - the beating heart of the ship.

Despite the clear evidence of their success, Janeway wouldn't have believed him if it weren't for her right shoulder suddenly crying out in pain. As she held it she noticed Rory, Chakotay, and Seven holding similar parts of their arms and torso. Obviously, the Doctor wasn't lying. "Looks like I'm going to be seeing you three in Sickbay," he mused, which received a disapproving grunt from his soon-to-be captors.

After the away team stepped out of the TARDIS, which was back on the _Voyager _bridge, they learned that they had been gone for over two hours in the attempt to bring back the core. The Silence managed to leave _Voyager _in that time as well. The team took no time to dwell on the recent events and instead immediately beamed the core to its proper place at the center of engineering, which was a great relief to mostly B'Elanna, who might as well consider the core her child. She powered it up and fired off the ship at high warp until she and the crew were certain they were well out of Silence territory.

The EMH doctor managed to pull the entire away team as well as the time travelers into Sickbay to be treated for injuries. Janeway and the time traveling Doctor were his toughest patients since they insisted on scrambling in their seats and attempting to leave before they had finished treatment. Both doctors continued bantering over wrinkles, hair, wardrobe, technology superiority, and bow ties while Janeway attempted to stop their bickering, only to confuse them over which doctor she was referring to.

After the away team recovered and the ship was in perfect condition, the crew and the Doctor were ready to part ways. Janeway admitted that she might miss the madman with a blue box.

"Don't worry, Captain," said the Doctor. "I'll try to visit every now and then."

"Just give us a call the next time you want to visit," Janeway responded with a hint of concern for what may come from another visit from the Doctor.

Both Amy and Rory gave an enthusiastic salute to the Captain, and was ushered into the TARDIS by the Doctor. Halfway behind the door, he gave one more excited smile toward the bridge crew that Janeway couldn't help but return, and disappeared inside his tiny box.

Janeway faced the pilot's seat and ordered a new heading for Tom. He glided his fingers over the console and said, "Course laid in, ma'am."

As the TARDIS began to pulse out of view, Janeway sat in her command chair and said, "Engage."


	2. Pieces

Year 2376:

Captain Kathryn Janeway was strolling through the corridor of her ship, the _USS Voyager_, on her way to the bridge. A few of her officers passed by, murmuring "Captain" as they neared. She nodded and kept moving.

She turned the corner to approach the turbolift. Suddenly, her legs froze and she uttered a gasp as she took in the horrific sight. A tall, gray alien in a suit stood between her and her destination. His large bald head towered over her. His small black eyes were sunken in and his nose was a black cave. His face narrowed to a point down to his jaw and his cheeks down were a mass of creases. He had no mouth, but a low clicking mixed with gravelly breathing emanated from him.

"I know you," Janeway whispered. She looked around at the crewmen passing her, calling for their help, but they just nodded at her and kept walking. She turned to look back at the alien. White hot pain seared her right shoulder. She grabbed it and fell to her knees. she looked back up at the alien. A black hole emerged from his creases. His four-fingered hand was raised and sparks flew from his body. Blinding light began to eclipse her view.

Kathryn Janeway screamed.

* * *

_It was only a dream,_ was Kathryn Janeway's first thought as she stirred from unconsciousness. However, as she opened her eyes, she did not see the familiar images of her quarters. Instead, she saw the blinding overhead lights of sickbay. She was in the main biobed, which was surrounded by an orange-lit, semi-circular wall as well as her first officer, Chakotay, and the ship's Chief Medical Officer, the Doctor. They seemed to be relieved, for whatever reason, Janeway could not understand.

"What am I doing here?" She mumbled. The two mens' expressions became concerned.

"A crewman heard you screaming in your quarters," said Chakotay. "When Tuvok arrived, he said you were grabbing your right shoulder as if you were in pain, but he couldn't wake you. So you were transported here."

"When I scanned you," the Doctor spoke up, "I detected brain activity that was too high for normal REM sleep. Your shoulder began to show some tearing in your muscles, so I had to give you a stimulant to wake you."

Janeway stared at them in disbelief. _Muscle tearing?_"But that's imposs-" she tried to say as she started to sit up, but halted as she inhaled in pain. Her right shoulder was burning, warning her that what they said was true.

* * *

Amelia Pond was bored. She usually was when traveling from one planet in time to the next inside the TARDIS. To amuse herself, she decided to spin around the glass landing of the control center accompanied with the buzzing and clicking of knick-knacks that made the ship function.

_Wait! Clicking?_ Amy stopped, wobbled toward the metal railing for support, and listened. _The TARDIS never clicked like that._ A chill ran down her spine as gravelly breathing accompanied the low clicks. She looked around for a blurred sight of the Doctor or her husband, Rory Williams. Maybe they were trying to tease her. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a figure on the opposite side of the glass cylinder of the control center. She smiled, and dizzily made her way to the controls to make a smart remark to one of "her boys," but stopped short. The figure looked nothing like the Doctor, or her husband. Instead, it looked like one of those green aliens she saw on outer space cartoons when she was little, only this one was gray.

A wave of memories swept over her. A woman with reddish-brown hair and a phaser-rifle led her down a dark corridor swarming with gray aliens. A tall, glowing cylinder with swirling blue liquid was placed behind dozens of tall figures. Strong arms held her firmly on her back under blinding light while a dry voice pleaded to spare her and the others. Four long fingers held a small device uncomfortably close to her head.

Pain shot across Amy's forehead. She bowed low and pushed her hands against her skull for fear it would split apart if she didn't press down hard enough. The agony brought forth a terrible scream, and consciousness began to slip away. Before she collapsed, an ominous voice penetrated her last memory. _If they remember, they will die._

* * *

Janeway awoke from a dreamless sleep, thankfully due to the Doctor's sedatives. Her shoulder still ached, and it seemed no form of treatment could relieve the pain. The Emergency Medical Hologram had ordered her to remain in sickbay for a few days until he could figure out the cause for her pain, and for the nightmares she had told him and Chakotay.

As she forced her grogginess aside, she realized that sickbay was much more busy than it had been for the past few days. She sat up, and noticed three of her senior officers occupying their own biobeds: Her tactical officer, Tuvok, astrometrics officer, Seven, and Chakotay.

"They all came in overnight complaining about extreme pain," the Doctor answered the Captain's unspoken question, "after dreaming about your alien."

The image of the gray alien flashed across Kathryn's memory, and she massaged her shoulder as a new stab of pain slashed through her dulling wound. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her as she stared at her unconscious crewmen. Connections started to form as she sprung up from her biobed. "Doctor, send those three up to the conference room on the bridge as soon as they can stand," she ordered, and headed toward the door.

"Now, where do you think you're going, Captain?" the Doctor called her back in. "You still are not fit for duty."

"Of course I am," Janeway countered. "It's just shoulder pain. I've had worse, and I have more pressing matters at the moment. Send them to the conference room by 1200 hours." Janeway gave the Doctor a nod and a slight smile to prove to him that she was fine. She turned and walked out of sickbay.

The Doctor looked after her somberly, burdened by what he knew. "Of course you had worse," he murmured. "You just can't remember it."

* * *

Janeway sat at the end of the conference table with Chakotay, Tuvok, and Seven seated further down. They had described in great detail each of their nightmares, each involving the tall gray alien that Janeway had dreamed, and that they endured excruciating pain as soon as they knew what it was. "But for some reason, we can't remember where we saw the alien," added Chakotay. "Or why it is so important."

"I believe I do," Janeway answered. "I have noticed a pattern here. All of us here have been having similar dreams about an alien we've never seen before, and experience horrible pain every time the memories surface. But only we have been the ones affected by this phenomenon. Why is that?" The three other officers looked around, confused. It was apparent that they had no idea what she was leading up to. "We were all involved in an away mission two weeks ago to bring back our warp core."

"With the Doctor?" asked Tuvok, as realization dawned on the group.

"With me!" announced a familiar british voice.

The officers turned in their chairs to see the quirky time traveler with the red bow tie at the door of the conference room. Behind him stood Amy Pond, supported by Rory Williams. As they stepped into the room, Janeway could see the deep blue police box of the TARDIS parked on her bridge before the doors slid shut. After she made a mental note to have the _intruder alert _sensors upgraded, she gestured for the newcomers to take a seat, and said unsurprisingly, "Hello again, Doctor. I assume you've been having some troubles with more than your...uh...time machine?"

"TARDIS," corrected the Doctor politely as he sat down with his companions. His tone had reluctantly admitted to her question. "Tell me, Captain, have you all been seeing a spooky gray alien that you've never seen before?" he mocked.

Janeway and the Doctor seemed to fall into sync with each other's thoughts. She didn't have to finish a sentence before he answered while the rest of the group jerked their heads from one speaker to the next in both confusion and awe. "You mean you've-"

"We all have."

"Then could it be-?"

"I believe so."

"Uh, excuse me," Amy finally spoke up, "but would you two care to share with the rest of the class?"

For one quiet moment it seemed like the Doctor and _Voyager_'s Captain were communicating with each other through their fearful eyes. Finally, the Doctor answered Amy, "The Captain and I believe that the aliens we've been seeing in our dreams and hallucinations are the Silence."

"Or, more accurately," added Janeway, not turning away from the Doctor, "the Silence we saw on our mission to retrieve the warp core inside their ship."

"How?" asked Seven, clearly bewildered under her emotionless mask. "It was my understanding that the Silence could not be remembered once you have looked away from them."

"There is still a lot about the Silence that even I don't understand, yet," replied the ancient time traveler. "Their memory...wiping...thing-y, could be less effective if they are in large numbers."

Janeway rolled her eyes at his "impressive" use of detail, but continued. "This all leads to another important point. Every time my crew and I recall the image of the Silence, we experience excruciating pain that our doctor cannot repair."

"Ah, right. That hairless, bow tie-hating hologram that you call Doctor." He tugged at his bow tie in distaste, but immediately changed his expression when he glanced at the Captain's incinerating glare. "I reiterate, I don't know everything about the Silence. I think we should answer your question with one that I'm sure everyone here wants to know more." He paused for effect. Then said, "What happened on the Silence ship?"

No words were needed to answer the Doctor's question. Everyone present was following each other's thoughts perfectly. Until now, they believed that this could never be possible, since for some reason _Voyager_'s doctor refused to tell them the events on the Silence ship by claiming he was under orders. But now that their memories had begun to surface, they could now use each other to piece together what they had discovered on one of their most captivating missions ever.

Clearly sensing that they were all ready to help each other reach the truth, Janeway took a deep breath, leaned forward to clasp her hands on the table, and said, "Alright, then. Let's find out, shall we?"

* * *

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm making this up as I go along."

"You mean to tell me you haven't thought any of this through?"

"Nope. I usually don't. I just pop in and out of time with my TARDIS before I need to make a plan."

Kathryn Janeway rolled her eyes in disbelief. She had trusted her ship's power source in the hands of a madman with a box. Now they were about ready to retrieve it from a dangerous race that she couldn't even see without remembering, and she didn't have a plan to get through it.

"Don't worry, madam. We'll get your core in no time. Just follow my lead." The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver toward the door. Janeway, Chakotay, Seven, Tuvok, Amy, and Rory all raised their phaser rifles. The EMH Doctor stayed close to the Captain to tell her of any Silence that she or the rest of the team couldn't remember. After they all had a deep breath, the time lord pushed open the door, and they all plunged into the dark corridor of the Silence ship with the Doctor in front, followed by Janeway, the EMH, Amy, Rory, Chakotay, Seven, and finally Tuvok.

They ran single file, down the many twists and turns of the ship, waiting for an attack to commence, but none came. Eventually, the group paused in confusion, but with rifles still raised and pointed in various directions. "Uh, doc?" Rory asked the hologram. "Have you seen any of the aliens yet?"

The medical Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in utter bafflement. "Odd...I haven't seen any yet so far."

"I'm guessing that's pretty unusual," said Amy, a little shaken. She was used to being in dangerous situations, just never combat.

"For us, it's very unusual to not have a problem by now," said Chakotay. He gave her a slight smile and a wink to try to calm her nerves, and to hide his.

Janeway was grateful for her first officer's attempt to ease tension., but the hairs on the back of her neck began to raise. Every fiber of her being told her that they should turn back. It was her ship and crew's dependance on the warp core that coaxed her to push the rest of the group forward.

Eventually, they reached a large black door. Between the cracks, the _Voyager _team could see the blue glow of their warp core. The Time Lord Doctor held his sonic to the crack in the middle, and a green glow clicked the door loose (Rory chuckled and breathed, "Thank God that wasn't wood, or we'd have to pry it open ourselves."). The Doctor and Janeway grabbed both sides and slid it open, quickly moving to the side to avoid being seen. An ominous low clicking confirmed that there was life beyond the door boundary. The two leaders looked at each other, nodded, gripped their weapons tighter, and dashed into the room.

Everyone's heart stopped. The warp core was right there, standing in the middle of the room with it's liquid swirling slowly in its container, only a few paces away. But what surrounded it was dozens of tall, gray men in dark suits. Their clicking resembled that of triumph. Like they finally had something they wanted.

_A trap, _thought the time-traveling Doctor. _It's a trap! _"RUN!" He turned for the door, as did the others. But instead of running out the door, they had to stop themselves from running through a solid wall. The Silence seemed to chuckle at their confusion. They turned from the wall to see the aliens raise their long arms at them. Some began to move toward them as sparks flew from their finger-tips, and their mouths began to appear as black holes. The team immediately dispersed throughout the room, ducking from each spark and landing behind their own piece of metal cargo. If they were going to go down, it would be while fighting. Phasers began to fire, and soon the room was filled with whites, oranges, and greens dancing past each other. _Voyager _officers would often roll to another firing spot to avoid an alien nearing or to help out a fellow member, mostly the pacifist EMH Doctor. Occasional Silence would drop from phaser fire, but it was clear that they were surrounding the team. Soon, a spark grazed Kathryn, and she collapsed to the ground. Chakotay fell next, after breaking his focus for a moment to look at his fallen captain. Seven, Amy, and Rory were hit simultaneously, as they had the shortest amount of experience with a phaser rifle. Before long, the two Doctors and Tuvok were back-to-back against fifteen of the Silence. The Doctor heard the Vulcan he'd been looking forward to studying shout something to the hologram. After a few taps on the shoulder, the EMH disappeared, and the device that was attached to him clanked to the floor.

White light began to blind him and he felt something hit his back. After several seconds, his eyes adjusted, and behind his light source he saw a blurred image of the rest of the away team in a circle with him, pulled back into long chairs. Their arms were restrained to their sides. Some were still unconscious, but Amy and Kathryn were looking around, disoriented like the Doctor himself was. Several of the Silence were in the center, facing away from him. They were talking to someone. Someone with a dry, almost emotionless voice...someone that hated bow ties.

"I won't let you hurt them."

_"Your people do not matter to us. Your warp core was only needed to reach the Doctor."_

"But I am the - oh, you mean _him_. Why do you want that fashion disaster?"

_"His TARDIS is of unlimited power."_

"I see. Well, you're not getting it by holding my people hostage. I suggest you let them go."

_"Or maybe we can destroy you and take the TARDIS by force."_

"Go ahead and try it, then."

...

_"Impossible! How are you-?"_

"Let's just say, I'm a hologram with many talents, and I can't forget your face no matter how much you turn away or zap me with that bug-killing finger of yours. Now, release my crew or you'll soon be nothing but ash on my boot!"

_"Your crew has already seen too much. We cannot risk their memories resurfacing."_

"Then find a way! Make it so they will not be able to remember no matter what. Need I remind you that your refusal is not negotiable?"

_"...Very well. We have one way. You may not prefer it, but this is what will save their lives. We do not tolerate any being to remember we are here. That includes you."_

"You have my word that I will not mention what has happened here to anyone."

_"Good."_

Seven of the Silence moved toward the central console and retrieved a small item. They turned and began to slowly move toward a specific person on the away team, one of them heading toward the Time Lord. The alien bent low to where he was eye level, and extended the arm with the small device at his chest. Instinctively, he began to struggle, but he felt the strong arms of another alien hold him from behind. He could hear the other two women struggle away from their own extending arms. They synchronously called, "Doctor!" but he wasn't quite sure which one they were referring to. His two hearts pounded against each other as the device finally made contact with his body.

The Doctor felt like he was on fire where the device had touched his skin. The fire spread and deepened as the device melted into his body. He was screaming. The rest of the team joined him in the chorus of agony.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!"

_"Not Earth. We told you this was necessary. If they recall these events, they will feel pain. If they remember, they will die."_

The Time Lord's vision grew dim, as his mind tried to save itself from the pain. The device finally began to settle in the core of his chest, and the collective screaming began to subside into grunts and groans as they started to lose their hold on reality. As the Doctor and his memories of the recent events began to slip away, one thought stayed in his mind.

"_If they remember, they will die."_

* * *

The Doctor ran up to the conference room as fast as possibly could. Why did he ever let Kathryn and the rest out of sickbay? He knew she was too stubborn to tell him anything that was wrong with her. And now he has to answer a captain trying to call for help through agonized screams.

As soon as he entered the conference room, he almost fell to his knees. Seven people who sat at a table moments before - were dead. The Captain, Chakotay, Seven, Tuvok, the Doctor that he hated, and Amy and Rory. Each of them had held where their devices had been implanted. Some of them were lying face down on the table, the others, like poor Kathryn, had collapsed to the ground in a fetal position. The Doctor wasn't programmed to cry, but he could feel his hollow insides burst in anguish.

_"You lied, Doctor."_

The EMH looked to his side and saw one of the Silence staring at him and the dead crewmen. He was disgusted that the creature would dare go near here and mock him at such a horrific event.

_"You promised us that they wouldn't remember."_

"They only remembered because they were in pain every time they had a nightmare!" the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "They began to investigate as soon as they got off your ship because, as explorers, we like to investigate the unexplained. Random prodding of pain-sticks that should push us away will only prompt us to delve even more into the unknown."

He seemed to be catching the alien's interest. There was still hope. So he continued by making a proposal, "If you take away the pain devices and just wipe the memories, they would have no incentive to explore what happened on the Silence ship. Please, give them another chance."

The Silence continued to stare at him, as if he was pondering the hologram's suggestion. After several minutes, the alien cocked his head, and there was a collective gasp as seven pairs of lungs breathed in oxygen for the first time in thirty minutes. The crew, now alive, began to settle their breathing, but did not wake up.

_"This is your last chance," _warned the alien. _"The devices have been removed. When they wake, they will not remember what they have seen. Do not fail us again."_And with that, the Silence began to dissolve into the air, and disappeared.

* * *

_It was only a dream_, was Kathryn Janeway's first thought as she stirred from unconsciousness. However, as she opened her eyes, she did not see the familiar images of her quarters. Instead, she saw the blinding overhead lights of sickbay. She was in the main biobed, which was surrounded by an orange-lit, semi-circular wall as well as her Chief Medical Officer. He seemed relieved, for whatever reason, Janeway could not understand.

"What am I doing here?" she mumbled.

"A conduit exploded on the bridge," answered the Doctor. He picked up a medical tricorder and began scanning the Captain. "No one was killed, but you, Chakotay, Seven, and Tuvok took most of damage. You've all been unconscious for four days."

_Four days? _thought Janeway. She looked around at the biobeds that were occupied by the officers the Doctor mentioned, but was shocked to notice something else, too. Three more beds were added, to make room for the time-traveling Doctor and his two companions.

Clearly seeing Janeway's surprise, the EMH explained. "The conduit explosion may have affected your short-term memory of events before the explosions. The...other Doctor... decided to pay us a visit, and got caught in the explosion as well. Now I have another mess to clean up." The Doctor punched numbers into his tricorder in apparent distaste.

"I see," was all Janeway could really say. She still had the feeling that something else was missing, but decided to shrug it off. She had a lot of work to catch up with. She began to sit up and head out of sickbay. "Well, Doctor, thank you for patching me up as well as our guests, but I really must get back to work-"

"Oh, no you don't, Captain," interrupted the Doctor, and he laid her back down onto the biobed. "I have not cleared you for duty. I want you to remain here for at least another day." She began to complain about her work, but he added, "Don't make me say two. Now get some rest. That's an order."

Janeway rolled her eyes and smiled. If there was one person on her ship that she could trust, minus Chakotay, it would be her CMO. As she slowly fell back to sleep, Janeway had the strangest feeling that she owed one to the Doctor.

If only she could remember what it was...


	3. The War of Silent Stone

Year 2376:

The Captain of the Intrepid _Voyager_, wielder of hundreds of powerful technologies, whizzed past him without so much as a glance. So did the Ancient Traveler of the TARDIS as he chased her down the room of illusionary landscapes. How fortunate was he to be in the presence of two travelers and their ships of wonders, and they couldn't even see him - or at least forgot they could see him. Yet they would do his bidding. He could have the two captains do whatever he wished, and they would forget why they did it. He almost chuckled at the thought of two of the most powerful individuals in the galaxy at his disposal.

So focused was he on his unknowing captives that he neglected to notice a figure standing next to him. It seemed out of place for a snow-capped mountain. A stony, winged creature against a blanket of white. Its eyes were hidden behind his hands, and it faced away from him, as if he wasn't even there. He turned toward the direction the figure was facing. It was looking directly at the red-haired female captain. He looked back at the object, but realized it was not in the same place as before. It was significantly closer to the woman, and its hands had dropped enough to reveal its blank eyes. It was not a figure, but a creature. He immediately called the others in a silent hum: _Beware! Intruders are onboard, and they have come to take Voyager._

* * *

Her bare face was stinging as the freezing air rushed past her, but Kathryn Janeway couldn't help but laugh as she heard the Time Lord Doctor howl in childish delight as he finally started to speed down the mountain behind her. She hadn't skied in a very long time, and was finally glad to share one of her favorite hobbies with her new friend. Yes, she now called the Doctor a friend, despite his occasional desire for whimsical exploration - though she had to admit to the moment when her old friend, Tuvok, called her "reckless" for flying the ship through the magnetic field of two deadly pulsars. After spending three captive days under the watchful eyes of her holographic doctor, she and the Doctor were released for duty and immediately retreated to the holodeck for, as Janeway called it, some "R-and-R" and to share their torturous experience in Sickbay.

Kathryn skid to a stop at the bottom of the mountain, triumphant at her success. But it was short lived as the Doctor collided with her, full force. They tumbled and landed in a snowy heap, Kathryn still laughing at the Doctor. "So sorry, Kathryn," he huffed in exhaustion, "I've been getting the hang of running, I guess I can't get the hang of stopping."

"Oh, that's alright, Doctor," chuckled Kathryn as they helped each other up. "As long as we don't have to make another trip to Sickbay, I'm having fun." But her chronometer reluctantly told her it was time to start her next duty shift on the bridge. "Computer, end program."

At her command, the ship-wide computer system chirped, and the Doctor stared in awe as the snowy mountainside dissolved into a small, silver room with crisscrossing pipes on the wall that made the illusion possible. With a command, the room could change into anything possible: a house, a field, a creature. The _Voyager _crew called the room a "holodeck," but even with his ship that could transcend all of time and space, he had rarely seen anything like it. It still baffled him how the crew could simply walk through a dissolving room without even noticing its wonder; just like Kathryn was doing right now. "Where are you going?" he asked her, eager to try another program.

"I have to go to the bridge," she replied over her shoulder. "Duty calls."

"But we just got away from your dreaded doctor yesterday. I was hoping we'd have more time to spend together," he ducked his head rather shyly, smiling in embarrassment . "It's not everyday when I get to meet a leader of a ship even close to my level of technology and understanding - at least one who doesn't have a weapon pointed at my head."

Kathryn couldn't help but smile at the compliment, and the familiarity they shared. After almost five years alone in the Delta Quadrant, and nearly every alien encounter becoming a deadly battle, it was comforting to finally see a friendly face that could relate to her. After all, he was the last of his kind, and, therefore, just as alone as she. "What more did you have in mind, Doctor?" she asked.

"Well, you showed me the wonders of your ship," said the Doctor, "why don't you let me show you mine?"

"You mean travel with you in your TARDIS?" she replied, shocked. He nodded in excitement. "Well...I'm flattered...but, I'm needed on my ship. Right now in fact." She watched as the Time Lord's face began to frown. "But, I'll find the time to see your ship more closely, and soon." The Doctor grinned again at the thought, and a satisfied Kathryn exited the room. However, she stopped as soon as she went through the slide doors. She was almost sure she heard something flutter past her. She turned to look around the corridor, but no one was there. Still, as she headed toward the bridge, she had a nagging feeling that something was watching her.

* * *

After Kathryn left, the Doctor decided to spend some more time on the holodeck since he had nothing better to do. He was given the captain's permission to try whatever program he liked, so he went browsing through the database on a panel on the wall. Of course, the one that would catch his eye was one by Tom Paris: The Adventures of Captain Proton. He activated it, and the silver room morphed into the inside of a black and white castle, complete with terrible dramatic music. It was just like those old television shows his companions would often force him to see claiming they were "classics." There were hardly any decorations in the plain white hallway he found himself standing in, except for rows of statues. Not a very comforting thought for the Doctor, but he decided to walk through anyway. Each statue was very different from the other. One was a bear, another a dragon, another some alien he never dreamed of before. There were so many others: a fish, a gargoyle, an angel...

Wait! The Doctor quickly turned back to the angel statue. It looked familiar. Too familiar. It looked like an ordinary angel statue, but what scared the ancient Time Lord was how the angel was covering its eyes - with its hands. He had to be sure. "Computer, end program," he called, and the entire castle and the statues dissolved into air, all except the angel. Fear gripped him as he backed toward the holodeck exit, staring unblinking at the statue. But something was irritating his arm. He could feel his sleeve was rolled up, but he never remembered lifting it. He glanced down at his arm, and his two hearts skipped a beat. Carved into his arm was a freshly-made hash mark, the sign of a Silence. He looked back up at the angel just in time to see it's hand freeze inches away from him. _What have I done?_ he thought.

"Kathryn!" the Doctor shouted as he sprinted out of the Holodeck.

* * *

Kathryn walked through the empty corridor toward the turbolift, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Every few feet she moved she thought she heard a flutter, almost like wings, looked behind her, saw nothing, and kept moving. Each glance made her more uneasy, until she turned to look back one more time. When she turned to keep moving, she almost ran into Amelia Pond. Both women yelped in surprise. "Amy," Kathryn shouted, "what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Captain" Amy responded with her Scottish accent. "I wanted to see what your bridge was like, but I'm afraid got a little lost."

Kathryn sighed. "Oh, you weren't the first one to get lost in this maze Amy." The Captain rolled her eyes at the designer of her ship. "Follow me. I'll take you to the bridge." But after they turned the corner to reach the turbolift, Kathryn had to fall backward to avoid running right into what looked like a slab of stone. When she looked back up, she realized it was what looked like a sad, almost weeping stone angel. Amy let out a terrible scream. Kathryn looked at Amy, who was sheet white, staring at the angel. Why was she so afraid of a piece of stone that somehow made it on the _Voyager_? Amy glanced at her, frantically pointing at the statue, telling her to stare at it and "whatever you do, don't blink!" Kathryn looked, and the angel no longer looked sad. It was now a monster. It's mouth carved wide open to reveal razor-sharp teeth. And it was staring right at her. How could she blink? For once, she was too afraid.

How long did she sit there staring into those villainous eyes? She did not know. Eventually, she was picked up by someone calling her name and pulling her toward the turbolift. It was only when the doors shut in front of them and they were moving upward did she finally blink her watery eyes and look around. Amy was next to her and the Doctor was gripping Kathryn's arm, asking her if she was alright. Kathryn nodded.

The doors opened to reveal the bridge of the _Voyager_. All three stepped onto the bridge, and the Doctor began to speak, "Captain, you need to warn your people that there are very dangerous intruders onboard. The Silence and the Weeping Angels." Instinctively, Tuvok raised the ship-wide alarm, and the bridge crew flinched at the sound of the name, Silence.

"The Silence are here?" said Kathryn. "How do you know? And why are they still here?"

The Doctor showed the growing hash marks on his arm, revealing the presence of more than the one he saw on the holodeck. "I think it's obvious why they're here: they want our technology, you and I, and what better way to have it than to use the very people that control it. We can't remember that they are here, but they can still enforce their will on us. It's what they've been doing to the people of Earth for centuries, and it's probably what they have done to us for a very long time. Weeks, months, even years."

"Alright," Kathryn accepted his simple answer as she thought through several different ship functions at once to prepare for what might be a severe combat situation. "What about that moving statue I saw? Is that the - Weeping Angel?"

"One of them," replied Amy with an almost visible shudder. "The Angels are only statues when one perceives them. As soon as you look away, they move extremely fast. If you are staring at them, and you blink, they can touch you. If they do, you'll be sent sometime in the past to live your life while they feed off of the potential energy you would have had in this existence."

"Well, why are they here? Why choose _Voyager_?"

"Because of your ship," said the now sombre Doctor. "You live in an advanced piece of metal floating in space. You have nowhere to run if they come after you. And when all of you are gone, when they send all of you into the past, the Angels can take your ship and travel to new worlds to feed on. New worlds that they never dreamed of reaching so soon. Both races want your ship and my TARDIS, and they are both willing to fight each other and you and I to get to them." The Time Lord bowed his head in agony. No matter how hard he tried, he could never seem to stop hurting the ones he cared about. "I'm sorry I led you to this, Kathryn. I'm so, so sorry."

Kathryn put a sympathetic hand on the Doctor's weighted shoulder. "This isn't your fault, Doctor. We'll get through this. We always have." She smiled at him, gave his shoulder a pat, and strolled on over to her chair to yank an emergency phaser out from under her control console. "Now, how do we kill a Silence?"

The Doctor balked at the idea of killing, but when it came to the Silence and the Weeping Angels, there was no other alternative. "Well, first you have to remember when you're staring right at one." This received a nervous chuckle from the senior staff. "Then, you just have to point your weapon and 'click.'"

Kathryn was shocked that it was that simple, but she had to remind herself that the danger was remembering the Silence were there, and to still be on the lookout for the Angels. "And the Angels? How do we kill them?"

"Well -," the Doctor paused. He actually never thought about how to kill an Angel. He always ran from them before he had the chance. "Technically, you can't kill them."

Kathryn just stared at him, shocked. "What do you mean, we can't kill them? How are we supposed to keep _Voyager_ if we can't even defend it?"

"Let me think for a moment." The Doctor paced for a few seconds, but could feel the crew growing more restless with each step he took. "I have it! You can't kill the Angels because they are stone when you look at them, but if you aren't looking at them, and you fire, you could kill them the split second you look away!"

"So, you look at the Silence to shoot, but you look away from the Angels to shoot?" asked Amy.

"Exactly!" The Doctor exclaimed, straightening his bow tie.

"Good work, Doctor," replied Kathryn. With that, she made an announcement to her crew. They were to grab phaser rifles and fire at all intruders in the manner specified by the Doctor. All crew members were to work in groups of at least two so everyone could watch each other's backs. With the security codes of every senior officer on the bridge, the controls to every critical system were silently locked out to everyone until the last Silence and Angel were removed from the ship. As soon as the bridge was confirmed clear of all outside aliens, the entrances were blocked by high-level forcefields, and everyone on the bridge, including Captain Janeway, set out toward the rest of the ship. _Voyager _was their home, and no other alien would take it away from them.

* * *

Shots could be heard throughout the ship as crewmen continued to fight the aliens. Kathryn kept laying down fire with two other security officers guarding her every move. They managed to kill several Angels, but she was never sure how many Silence she had killed. Occasionally, she would seem to be tripping on her own feet as she advanced through the ship, but her security had to gently tell her that it wasn't her feet, but the bodies of Silence that she was tripping over, a fact that she preferred to be forgotten. At least her security had the luxury to forget that fact when they looked up from the floor to fire at more of the aliens.

It seemed, though, as the crew made their way through the ship, an Angel would always be partnered with a Silence in a rivalry that occasionally ended with one slaying the other at the time the _Voyager _crew would reach them. A Silence, focused on an Angel, would glance at the arriving crew and be sent to the past by the Angel. An angel with a Silence not perfectly in its view would lose his sight of the Silence and forget his existence. The Silence would use that advantage to exterminate the Angel. The crew would take care of the rest.

Kathryn was relieved to hear that the casualty reports being fed to her informed her of a few injuries, but no disappearances from her crew so far. It seemed that the aliens were tough, but her crew had too much to lose to let the aliens take over. She could hear the frequency of weapons fire begin to die down as her crew were running out of targets.

After wandering the corridor for more intruders, Kathryn heard a clink of metal behind her. As she turned she saw the rifle of one of her security officers, Lieutenant Jarvis, settle on the floor. "Jarvis!" she called with no response. She looked at her second security officer, Crewman Lehman, who shook his head, telling her he had no idea what happened to Jarvis. Kathryn heard a flutter of wings, and raised her rifle before she looked down the corridor to see the Angel now standing just a few feet away from them, arm outstretched and parallel to Jarvis's rifle. She heard another flutter from behind her, and saw another Angel on the opposite side of the corridor. She and Lehman were trapped between two Angels. "Crewman," Kathryn whispered, shakily, "watch each other's backs." He simply responded with an "Aye, Captain," and was hit with what sounded like an electrical discharge, which knocked Kathryn's rifle out of her arms. She turned briefly to see Lehman collapse from the sparks coming from a Silence directly behind the Angel, which had come significantly closer to her, stony teeth bared. She turned to the other Angel, now just as close, and with another Silence trying to make its way toward her. With each horrified glance at one Angel, the other came closer, until she was pinned to the ground staring up at the monstrous creatures, her heart beating frantically. Their arms were inches from her face.

"NO!" She could hear the Doctor scream from the far end of the corridor. Kathryn looked his way, and was touched by an Angel.

* * *

The Doctor could only watch in horror as his newest friend flashed out of sight. For several seconds, he did nothing except stare at the empty space that symbolized another failure from him, and another piece of guilt to add to his expanding collection. He looked back up at the statues; they were smiling. Something rose inside the ancient traveler that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He felt rage. Uncontrollable rage that can only be expelled by saving the ones he loved, and not letting anymore fall under his watch.

By the time the Doctor gained enough of his senses to march his way toward the Angels, a great deal of the senior officers had arrived at the captain's last known location before the computer told them she was no longer on board. He was as close to the aliens as he would dare, and suppressed as much of his anger as he could to slowly mutter, "Where is she?" They did not answer, but just continued to smile. Of course they couldn't say anything, they were stone. And they obviously would never give up someone as powerful and as energy-satisfying as the captain of _Voyager. _They certainly would never give him up if they had the chance to take him. "Fine," he grunted. "Don't tell me, but I will tell you something you and the Silence should know: You may manipulate us, and you may try to defeat us, but you will never, ever stop me from saving the ones I love! I will find Kathryn, with or without your help, and when I do, you'd better run. Because when I return with her, we'll be making you target practice for the updated torpedo launchers on this unique ship, which you will never get your hands on." He straightened his bow tie and turned around to accompany the senior officers. No spark grazed him, and no sliver of stone touched his jacket.

The senior officers reentered the bridge and began scanning in search of their missing captain, hoping that wherever the Angels sent her, it was too far away - in distance or time. When the Doctor arrived on the bridge he immediately headed for his TARDIS. "Doctor," called Amy, "where are you going?"

"To find Kathryn," he replied.

"How?"

"How do you think? By looking for her throughout time and space."

"But she can be anywhere at any time! We have to wait until we can find some sign of her -" she hesitated to say "remains" for fear of causing her oldest friend more pain.

"Amy, you don't understand," the Doctor's harsh tone had softened. "It's my fault that the most dangerous creatures in my universe found her and her crew, and it is my responsibility to make sure they are safe."

Amy knew this side of the Doctor too well. Every once in a while, he had allowed his guilt to weigh him down. He would eventually try to alleviate this pain by traveling alone for a long time, leaving him nothing but an angry, reckless man with only his pain to keep him company. "And, once again, you think you failed by letting the Captain be taken?" The Doctor just lowered his head. "You didn't fail her. Her crew is looking for her right now, and if you just wait for a moment, we can find her and get her out of there, together." She put her hand on the Doctor's shoulder, just as Kathryn did. "You don't have to be alone anymore."

The Time Lord finally smiled, grateful for the company. Together, the crew waited for a sign of Kathryn somewhere in the galaxy. Occasionally, a control would chirp and the crew would leap in anticipation, only to be discouraged by a casualty report from another battle with the intruders.

Finally, the control at Tuvok's station chirped. It had picked up a Federation signal from a planet over 10 light years away. It was Captain Janeway's comm badge, and crewman Jarvis's. They immediately took the ship to the planet and scanned for the two. However, they were very concerned when they found no humanoid lifesigns on the surface. Commander Chakotay cautiously sent an away team to the location of the Captain's badge while trying to avoid the small battles still waging on the ship. It wasn't long after the away team was beamed down when they heard a response. _"Voyager, we are at the location of the Captain's and Jarvis's comm badges."_

"How's the Captain?!" Chakotay responded, slightly more concerned about Kathryn than of the other crewman.

_"Crewman Jarvis is still missing, but as for the Captain..." _There was a long, aching pause. _"I'm afraid there isn't much left of her, sir."_

The Doctor felt a wave of nausea roll through him, and he began to hunch forward. Amy wheeled in front of him, ducking below him to make contact with his eyes. "Now, Doctor, get a hold of yourself," she spoke in her soothing Scottish voice. "You can still go and get her, in the past. You didn't see her, and she didn't influence anything by being on that planet, right? This isn't a fixed point in time, right?"

The Doctor sat there for a moment, thinking about it. Then, he smiled again. "No, it wouldn't be." Slowly, he began to emerge with the fast-paced, childlike energy he always had. "The away team may have seen the remains of the Captain, which would supposedly mean that Kathryn was doomed to be touched by the Angel again in a previous timeline, but we only saw her body _after _she was sent back, and she never saw her body, which would, under normal time circumstances, seal her fate. This could mean we can take the TARDIS back to the point when she first arrived on the planet, creating a paradox and starving the Angels that touched her in the first place!" There were many confused faces, who's minds refused to follow the complexities of time. "I don't expect you to understand all of this. I just need you to trust me not to punch a hole in space. After all, I am a Time Lord, and all of this is just wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff that only I can truly understand."

He snapped his fingers, and the doors of the deep-blue TARDIS swung open once again. At his request, the crew told him the estimated time of the Captain's death and how old she was at the time, which helped him estimate when the Captain first arrived on the planet. Amy and her husband, Rory, decided to join the Doctor to help retrieve Kathryn. They entered the TARDIS, fired up the engine of knick-knacks, and pulsated off of _Voyager _and onto the deserted planet.

As soon as they stepped into the dark, colorful jungle, they were greeted by a stone spear piercing the door of the TARDIS. After the groups' hearts finished fluttering, they realized the spear came from a shaggy-haired Kathryn Janeway, already armed with another weapon before she realized who she was aiming at. "Doctor?!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hello, Kathryn!" the Doctor happily replied. "It's so good to see you alive! We have come to take you back to _Voyager, _and to help remove the rest of the Silence and Angels that have almost taken over -"

"Angels?" The Captain seemed shocked at this thought. "After all this time, they're still on my ship?"

"Well, yes. You've only been gone for a few hours, but luckily we found out where and when they took you, so we could come get you right after you were sent here by the Angels..." He began to trail off as Kathryn's words sank in. _After all this time_. "What did you mean by that?"

Kathryn stared at him in shock with her wild eyes. "Doctor, I have been here for over six months!"

"What?!" The Doctor looked at Amy and Rory. They both gave him the annoyed "you-forgot-to-send-your-ship-to-the-right-time-ag ain-didn't-you" look.

"I have been out here alone fighting for my life for over half a year," Kathryn continued, swinging her weapon around, completely oblivious to the silent exchange, "thinking that you couldn't save me because of the messy complexities of time travel that give me a week-long headache, but at least those-those stony freaks were taken care of by you and my crew. And NOW you're telling me that not even a day has gone by and they haven't been handled yet? The least you could have done was come and pick me up sooner so I could help! What exactly have you been doing for so long that was more important than letting a starship captain rot on a miserable planet like this one?!"

"Captain, I'm so sorry," intervened Rory. "Ironically, the Doctor just has a little bit of trouble getting the timing right on his rescue missions." He glared at the Time Lord, obviously recounting the numerous times he was severely overdue to meet up with Amy in his TARDIS-by several years.

"Well at least we can get you back to _Voyager _now," boasted the Doctor, but by her sudden rage, he could tell that the Captain wanted to smack his cheery Gallifreyan face, so he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, you had a crewman with you. Where is he?"

Her anger dissolved into a mixture of sorrow and hope as she sighed, "He's dead. Killed by one of the creatures here. Would you be able to find him at an earlier time?"

The Doctor looked at his feet, shook his head, and sighed. "I'm afraid not. Since I found you here now, I can't go back to an earlier point in your life. I'm sorry. I wish I could -," he was cut off by a strange roar that he never heard of before, but it seemed to instill panic in the wide-eyed captain.

"What's that?" called Amy.

"I don't know, but that thing is what killed Jarvis! We'd better get in the TARDIS before it gets here!" The Captain dived wildly into the police box, followed by the companions and the Doctor, who barely caught a glimpse of a sharp-toothed mouth and a body with purple fur before shutting the door behind him. After their heavy breathing subsided, Kathryn spoke in a neutral voice that hid her grief for Jarvis, but seemed to intensify her anger toward another problem, "So, Doctor, did you say someone's trying to take over my ship?"

* * *

By the time Kathryn arrived back on the _Voyager_, a handful of her crew were being surrounded by waves of Silence and Weeping Angels that she didn't know were still on her shipuntil a few minutes earlier. Yet, as she approached a set of statues, they immediately transformed into a wisp of smoke at her sight. They were the Angels that had taken her to that dreaded planet, and once she returned back to her reality, they instantly starved to death. If only the other Angels could work that way, thought Kathryn, but she guessed a phaser rifle from the weapons locker would suffice. She, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory had the advantage to fight the flood of aliens from behind them as the aliens focused on the rest of the crew. As the group attacked from behind, they gave the crew the opportunity to fire once again from the front. Every corridor was illuminated with orange bursts as alien after alien were brought down. Soon, only a handful remained.

The remaining Angels and the Silence stood side-by-side, but didn't dare cross the invisible line between them that had existed for centuries. The Doctor and Kathryn stood in front of them, backed by every security officer on the ship, and armed to the "kill" setting on their rifles. "I told you I would find her," the Doctor started in his most menacing voice. "I told you what might happen when we returned. We are willing to destroy you once and for all, but we are giving you a chance to run. Leave now, and never come near this vessel or this race again, and your lives will be spared - for now."

The foremost Silence slowly turned to look at the Angel next to him, and looked back at the two humanoids who wielded such incredible power, but were now untouchable. He uttered a low, clicking hum. The lights in the corridor suddenly flashed off, and when they came back on, the two rivals had vanished.

* * *

"Those six months on that planet were almost like my life on _Voyager_." Kathryn and the Doctor were walking through the corridor after the crisis was finished and she was cleared for duty by her irritated holographic Doctor. While walking, they were discussing Kathryn's unexpected experience on the planet the Angels had sent her to. "I mean, life on that planet was a lot worse than life here, but, just like here, I was alone for my kind, facing the unknown daily. In a way, I almost never left _Voyager_."

"Well, of course you did," said the Doctor. "At least here you have friends and family who care about you. Hopefully, in the past few weeks, you made some new friends, despite one with a complete inability to keep track of time for his friends, even though he has a time machine at his disposal," he nervously chuckled at his guilt for leaving kathryn for such a long time, but she purposely ignored his apology.

"You know, Doctor," she smiled, "now that we've been through such an 'interesting' journey, your offer to travel with you is now more tempting than ever."

The Time Lord beamed at her. "Actually, Captan, why don't you come along right now? I can take you whenever and wherever you wish. After all, my ship is a time machine. I could take you through all of time and space and have you back here in time for your next duty shift."

She only had to think it through for a moment. By the time she made her choice, they were on her bridge, standing right in front of the doors of the blue police box, the lantern atop shining brightly. "Well," she said, "how can I argue with that offer?"

She told the crew to expect her in a few minutes with new stories to tell. And by what Amy and Rory had told her already before she even entered the TARDIS, they would be very unique stories, even for her crew. After a wave goodbye to her officers, the Time Lord guided her and his companions into his ship and closed the door behind him. Soon, the lantern began to pulse, and the police box slowly faded away to lead another companion through the many wonders of all of time and space.


End file.
